Died On This Date (August 2, 1975) Chan Daniels / The Highwaymen
themusicsover Chan Daniels
January 1, 1940 – August 2, 1975
Chan Daniels was an original member of ’60s folk group, The Highwaymen who scored a couple of hits with “Michael,” and “Cotton Fields.” Formed in 1958, The Highwaymen were very popular along the college folk circuit due, in part, to their political songs. More pop-leaning and less confrontational than Bob Dylan or Phil Ochs, the Highwaymen found their audience alongside the likes of the Kingston Trio and New Christy Minstrals. The group disbanded in 1964 as Daniels, Bob Burnett and Steve Butts opted to go to grad school. They reunited on occasion in later years. Chan Daniels passed away on August 2, 1975.
Dave Guard was an influential American folk singer, best remembered as a founding member of the Kingston Trio. Formed in 1957, the group helped launch the folk revival of the ’60s while becoming one of the first groups to enjoy big sales on the LP format. Their first hit single, “Tom Dooley” is considered one of the most important songs of the era. Artists like Brian Wilson, Joan Baez, Lindsey Buckingham, Jimmy Buffet, and 
Bess Lomax Hawes was a folk musician, educator and folklorist. As the daughter and sister of noted folk historians, John A. Lomax and 
Nick Reynolds was a founding member of the Kingston Trio, one of the premier groups of the ’60s folk revival. Formed in northern California in the late ’50s, the group were a direct descendant of the Weavers, but thanks in part to their youthfulness, they were able to bring folk music further into the mainstream. Their harmonies would, in turn, heavily influence such groups as the Beach Boys in years to come. The Kingston Trio won two Grammy’s during the early part of their career. The group broke up in 1967 as harder rock music started becoming more popular with American kids, so Reynolds took some time off from music to enjoy his other love, auto racing. He made a name for himself driving formula B and C cars along the Northwest circuit. He reunited with the Kingston Trio in the early ’80s and played with them on and off until his retirement in 1998. Nick Reynolds was 75 when he died of respiratory disease on October 1, 2008.
Gram Parsons was a highly influential singer-songwriter who helped launch what would later be called country rock and then alt-country or Americana. Parsons began playing the guitar as a teenager to escape a less than ideal home life. The first group he played with, the Shilohs, were a folk band in the tradition of the Kingston Trio. When the band broke up, he and other Boston area folk musicians formed the International Submarine Band with whom he began to develop a sound the borrowed the best from country, folk and rock. They enjoyed moderate success, primarily getting airplay on the up-and-coming progressive radio stations. In 1968, Parsons was asked to join the Byrds as a replacement for David Crosby and Michael Clarke. He started on keyboards but soon switched to guitar, helping guide the group down a more country rock path. Parsons left the Byrds in the summer of 1968. He joined back up with the Byrds’ Chris Hillman soon after to form the Flying Burrito Brothers whose debut, The Gilded Palace of Sin would be a direct influence on the likes of the Eagles, Dwight Yoakam and later, Wilco and Ryan Adams. By the early ’70s, Parsons was working as a solo artist while recording and performing with good friend, Emmylou Harris. It was during this period that Parsons’ inner demons were taking control in the form of substance abuse. He was also spending more and more time in an area he had become fond of, Joshua Tree National Monument in the desert outside of Los Angeles. He liked to go there and take LSD while searching for UFOs. It was during one of these trips that Gram Parsons apparently overdosed on morphine and alcohol and died at the age of 26.